Tom Brennan - BULLPEN BLUES AND THE REYES FLU
The first few weeks of the baseball season are replete with short starter outings. Short starter outings deplete bullpens, as do 16 inning games. So it was not fortuitous to lose Lugo and Matz, with whom our staff would have sailed through the first two weeks.
Without them, the 15 game suspension of Jeurys Familia to start the season was remarkably untimely. Had he been with the team, perhaps another 2 W's occur by not pitching the likes of Rafael Montero (WHIP over 3.00 in his 6.1 IP, who is fumbling his latest chance).
Familia will be back very soon. Not a moment too soon. Even with him returning, the Mets' staff could continue its uneven ways...but hopefully will hit its stride.
Hitting-wise, Neil Walker (.239), Grandy and Flores ( under .200) and Reyes ( under .100) are hitting a combined .182 in 46 games and 170 at bats, with a mere 10 RBIs. Why do the Mets always seem to have half the team hit like crap in April (and one of them always be Grandy?)
Is it just a coincidence that the 2 oldest hitters in the line up (Grandy and Reyes) are 12 for 92? Their ineptitude is getting old. And we should hope fellow old man, the gimpy David Wright, returns? No thanks.
Interesting that 3 of the Mets' best minor league hitters are infielders (19 year old Luis Carpio has a .478 on base % in 10 games with the Fireflies....22 year old Luis Guillorme finding AA to be easy, hitting .424/.500/.515 through 9 games... and Amed Rosario (21), hitting .357 with a .391 OBP in Vegas. Interestingly, all are YOUNG.
With those guys, Jose has to be hearing footsteps.
And Grandy needs to start collecting bench splinters. There is nothing worse than having so few wins from Thor, Jake, and Harvey when they have been brilliant. We need hitters (and Familia) to back them up.
Tim Tebow has slipped under .200 but has 9 RBIs in as many games for Columbia, so the doctor confirmed it: no Jose Reyes Flu. 9 RBIs? Nine more than Jose Reyes.
Joe Zanghi on Sunday had by far his worst pro relief outing Sunday, blowing a four run lead in surrendering 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning. That Flu can be awful, I hear.
The other guy with 2 T's in his name (extra base hit machine Travis Taijeron) has 5 extra base hits in 11 games and a .324 start.
I highlighted last week that Matt Reynolds started out 0-8 with 6 Ks in his first 2 games, but is 12 for 33 since, so his Jose Reyes Flu lasted only 2 days.
St Lucie's Vinnie Siena, though, has full blown Jose Reyes Flu, hitting 1 for 29 with an astounding 18 strikeouts so far. That Flu can be nasty. it strikes out at its victims.
Demote him (or quarantine him), and promote Luis Carpio?
Dom Smith is hitting .373, but just one homer in 11 games. So should we be excited, or disappointed? And Plawecki is 100 points lower at .273 in under 30 at bats. It's early, Shirley.
Lastly, as my train ride is almost over, let me highlight two impressive bullpen season starts.
Lefty AA reliever Al Baldonado has had 3 stellar outings, and in 5 innings has allowed 1 hit, 1 walk, and fanned 9.
And Tyler Bashlor in St Lucie has tossed 6 hitless, scoreless innings and fanned 10.
Lefty AA reliever Al Baldonado has had 3 stellar outings, and in 5 innings has allowed 1 hit, 1 walk, and fanned 9.
And Tyler Bashlor in St Lucie has tossed 6 hitless, scoreless innings and fanned 10.
Nice. Very nice. Maybe we see Big Al in Queens in 2017, and Ty Bashlor in 2018. With Ty Kelly gone, there is always room for another Ty in the Mets wardrobe.
May the Jose Reyes Flu, and the Queens Bullpen Blues, soon be a thing of the past.
God bless ye, merry gentlemen (and ladies).
Past article drafting time, Dom Smith climbed up to .396 after a 3 for 5 night including (drum roll, please) a 2 run jack to win the game bottom 10. He is quickly erasing his spring training bat struggles.
ReplyDeleteTom -
ReplyDeleteMorning. Another great guppy update.
As you know, I was going to do a weekly question to the Mack's Mets writers about Jose Reyes, but it seems like it would be a waste of time at this point.
Only three guys in some degree thin this guy can help the Mets anymore... Terry Collins, Sandy Alderson, and the guy that REALLY pulls the shots and makes out the lineup cards... J.P. Ricciardi.
Ricciardi is responsible for holding back the growth of the youth on this team. Both Sandy and TC shut their mouth and just go to work on this issue.
I don't buy that Ricciardi makes out the lineup cards. He may instruct in a meeting, "I want (fill in the blank) to play every day" but it's the moron with the lineup pencil responsible for ultimately deciding who plays and where. Don't shift blame away from the the white haired wonder.
ReplyDeleteReese, I wonder who the white-haired wonder is? :)
ReplyDeleteDon't the Mets keep an extra year of eligibility for Rosario if he comes up after late April? Maybe if Reyes continues to flounder (hopefully with greatly decreased day-to-day opportunity), we see Amed in about 10 days and shift Cabrera to 3rd.
Reese -
ReplyDeleteYou know what I mean.
Of course the cards are filled out in the clubhouse. The handwriting doesn't come close to Collins. But the decisions on who plays each day and bats when is done by J.P.
If you don't agree with me, fine. We'll just agree to disagree, but, in this case, I am correct.
If what you say is true, then I have still more reason to loathe Collins -- no backbone.
ReplyDeleteReese -
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that TC isn't on board with this... it just starts with JP.
Hopefully, Ricciardi forgets how to write the words Granderson and Reyes for a while, then
ReplyDelete